Pastor's Corner

17Feb

Mid-Week Challenge

Mid-Week Challenge

When I was in high school and college there was a sci-fi show I really enjoyed called Highlander. The series was about a group of immortal swordsmen who battled one another until there was only one. The show used a lot of theme music from the band Queen. Due to the immortal theme of the series one song that played often was “Who Wants to Live Forever?” If you could live as long as you choose, how long would that be? Time magazine asked that question in a survey on longevity and discovered the age a majority of Americans are shooting for is 100. That is a nice round number and few make it that far, but the most surprising information came from the follow up questions. We might want to live to 100 but few people are making preparations to get there. Factoring in that most Americans are overweight and have very little savings in the bank the odds are not that good that more folks will see their 100th birthday. Instead, we need to make plans for eternity. http://time.com/4216008/americans-live-to-100/?xid=newsletter-brief

First off: Death does not seem real for many people. We see violence in movies and TV. We play violent video games. Our health care system is so advanced that baring a sudden event, hospitals allow us to die with dignity and very few people witness someone dying.

Second, we still believe good people get into heaven. Sixty-five percent of Americans claim that many religions can lead to eternal life. Sixty-six percent of Americans believe hell exists, but only two percent of those who believe in hell expect to go there. We still have people who believe that just because they don’t believe in something (heaven and hell, God, Jesus, etc.) then those things don’t exist. This lie of Satan has split eternity wide open for millions of people who choose to ignore the warning signs.

Who wants to live forever? Like it or not, we all do, in one form or another. Just as the warning sign of shortness of breath should not be ignored, neither should the Gospel call for repentance. God calls out to us from all Creation. Don’t ignore the invitations all around. Similar to the Highlander, in the end, there will be only One!